Wall St. Protest!!

Occupy Wall Street

October 2, 2011

Liberty Plaza Park (Broadway and Wall Street) NYC

Protest

What a wonderful and exciting event!!! This protest was the first time in a very long time that I actually felt fundamentally hopeful for our country. I have been very worried about the state of our union ever since Chief Justice Roberts oversaw changing the law to unleash unlimited corporate funds into politics. I don't think we've yet seen the full harm of this monsterous travesty. It effects our political system which of course trickles down into our classrooms. I have been worried the people do not stand a chance against corporations, and things might just get worse and worse. Being a mother, and a teacher, the future becomes a huge concern of mine, much more than when it was just me. Just looking at all the harm that has come to education in recent years...I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't raised their eyebrows when I tell them I'm joining the ranks of public school teachers. They all say "now?! rough time to join!" But today I felt hopeful!

But walking around this protest with my young son, I felt for the first time like perhaps the people have a chance at real social action and actual fundamental change. That makes me feel encouraged to continue to teach social action to students! I talked to many of the folk there. They've been camping out in the park for 16 days, and this protest has now grown to around 17 cities. Moveon just started a virtual solidarity march to stand with them on Wed, 10/5, when students will join in. Yesterday around 700 people got arrested on Brooklyn Bridge. I talked to several of them and they said it was actually fun, they sang pop tunes in the prison all night and also got an attack of the giggles. They said they were treated fairly well and some the of police joked as they were leaving, "see you next week!" I bring this up because it strikes me as a different relationship then other more volatile protester/police interactions I have witnessed or been involved in. A friend posted a picture of a policeman and next to him stood a protester with a sign saying something like the police were one pink slip away from joining the protestors. Another sign indicated how the protestors wanted to work in solidarity with the NYPD.

They have two general assemblies everyday and do two marches. The routes change everyday so the police cannot anticipate where they will go. They seemed to be incredibly respectful and kind to each other. There were some troublemakers but they were quickly shut down by the group. It really seems to be a very peaceful and nonviolent protest. It's very organized and several people are sleeping there, and it grows larger everyday. There is a section for donated food, for sign making, for sleeping, for electronic communication, and my favorite, the music corner! My son insisted on making a sign right away and we stood on the sidewalk with many others holding up some great signs. People were friendly and curious. There were many news organizations there. There was a tiny toddler asleep in a carriage with a sign saying "give me back my future!" One passer buyer called out, "that's exactly what I'm going to do!" and I looked at the sign he was calling to and it said, "ignore us. go shopping!" The sign holder would not engage, he simply said, "have fun." I was very inspired and thought alot about how I could bring this kind of information to my students; how to teach them ways to work to effect real change through civil disobedience. There was a feeling of union, community and hope that seemed rather incredible to me.

These people are not furious or self-righteous. They feel that they cannot be heard by the courts because our supreme court is leaning so far right at this time in history. They feel they cannot get a fair representation in much of media, who are owned by corporations and work for advertising dollars. They feel they can't get laws changed because corporations have bought out our legal system. They feel they can't get government officials to speak for them because they can't compete financially with corporations. They feel disenfranchised, and so they have come together to speak out and tell the world that our democracy is not working as it is suppose to. This is my feeling and part of my inspiration in wanting to teach, to pass these truths on quietly to the next generation. I felt this protest gave me many good tools, hope and inspiration.

Their website says: Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants. You can read more and see pictures here: www.occupywallst.org. I went on Sunday when there was a call for teachers to come out. I spoke with many educators and all kinds of people; it was hard to tell who was a teacher and who wasn't, as all the conversations were excited and animated, discussing non violent civil disobedience techniques and the growth of the movement. We are all in this together, all kinds of different people belong to the 99% who do not have access to 50% of the country's wealth as 1% do. Cornell West is a big fan and spoke there, as well as Susan Sarandon, Amy Goodman and several other well known people. This protest does not use microphones. When someone wants to speak, and it seems as if anyone who wanted to was allowed, they call out one line and then the crowd repeats it loudly for all to hear. So even though Jackson and I were at one end of the park, we could clearly here the speeches down at the other end. I had never seen anything like it! I planned to only stay 3 hours but my son loved it and didn't want to leave, so I am not sure how many hours we ended up staying as the time flew by! Everyone I spoke with was hugely inspired by the youth of the middle east and the "Arab Spring" and they called this movement the "U.S. Autumn." They are finally getting mainstream media coverage. It's very exciting! The facebook page Occupy Together implies it is spreading rapidly all over the country! I could write all night about it but it's suppose to be a short blog...just find me if you want to hear more! It was exactly what I needed to get my excitement for teaching young people back to where I want it!